The Darkness of the TARDIS
by dragonwings948
Summary: When the TARDIS shuts down, inhabited by frightening creatures the Meta-Crisis Doctor knows very well, Rose and TenToo have to figure out a way to get rid of the intruders while keeping their eyes wide open as the mischievous new TARDIS gains a mind of its own. Fifth installment in the Doctor WhoToo series. :) Copyright to the BBC.
1. Chapter 1

A cold fear grew in the pit of Rose's stomach. There weren't many things that scared her anymore, but seeing the Doctor in this state was one of them. His eyes were wide, unblinking, and filled with a calm, subdued fear.

"Rose," the Doctor said from across the console, just a few meters from the door to the hallway. "Come here." He stretched out one of his arms toward her, but still didn't meet her gaze.

She didn't question him. There was no trace of joking anywhere in his face. She ran the short distance to him, grabbing his hand and pressing herself close to him. Being near to him made her feel much safer.

The Doctor reached into his jacket pocket and produced his sonic screwdriver. He extended his arm out behind her, and she heard the buzz of the tool a few seconds later.

"How in the universe..." he mumbled in disbelief.

"Doctor?" Her voice came out as a squeak. "Why can't I look?"

He squeezed her hand. "You have to trust me. Don't let go of me. Whatever you do, don't let go." Letting out a shaky sigh, the Doctor winked one eye at a time. "I need you to run to your room, as fast as you can, and don't look back."

"How are we going to get in if the power's down?"

The Doctor tilted his sonic screwdriver toward her, and she grabbed it from his hand. Rose fiddled around with it for a few seconds before figuring out the button that made the familiar buzzing.

"When do I run?" She looked up at him, though his gaze was still fixed behind her.

He steeled his jaw. "Now."

Rose turned and ran, expecting some sort of alien beast to tackle her to the ground any second, or to feel sharp claws rake down her back...

She shook the thoughts away, the Doctor's hold helping to keep her sane. Their footsteps echoed through the hallway, dimly lit by the white floor. Rose held up the sonic as she reached the door to her room, pressing the correct button. It buzzed, and the door slid open a moment later. She ran inside, still dragging the Doctor behind her. Before she could turn around to sonic it shut, the screwdriver was torn from her hand and its hum sounded a second later.

For a minute or two, Rose couldn't see anything. The floor in here was a metallic silver instead of the white outside, which had made it brighter. Now, everything was pitch black. She could feel the Doctor just in front of her, but couldn't clearly see his face. His breathing was rapid and shaky.

As Rose waited for her eyes to adjust, she felt the Doctor release his hand from her hold. He caressed her cheek gently and ran his other hand through her hair. His lips pressed against her forehead for a few seconds, and then he pulled away from her, taking her hand in his again. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief, and then slumped against the wall, finally looking at her. He tucked the sonic back into his pocket with care.

"What was it?" Rose asked, able to see his face now, and wondering at the sudden show of affection. "Why can't I look at it?"

"Do you really want to know?" His eyes told of some sort of deep fear, but his normal confidence almost outshone it.

"Yeah," she said softly, not sure that she really did. She reminded herself that whatever it was, it had broken into the TARDIS.

The Doctor's eyes searched hers, and his eyebrows furrowed together. "A weeping angel."


	2. Chapter 2

"A what?" The name wasn't familiar at all.

"Weeping angel. They're some of the most terrifying beings I've ever met."

Rose thought back through all the tales he had told her of his adventures before and after her. "You never told me about them."

"I didn't want to scare you."

The words sent a chill up her spine. "Why do they want to kill us?"

"Not kill." The Doctor shook his head, looking down at the ground. "The weeping angels don't kill. Not usually." He met her gaze. "It's worse than that. If they touch you, they send you back in time to wherever they please to live out your days years away from everyone you've ever known. They feed off of the temporal energy of the life you could have had."

Rose considered this, and realized just how serious the situation was. "Couldn't you just use the TARDIS to find me?"

"The TARDIS could lock onto your location," he said slowly, in a lower voice. "But there's no telling _when_ it would lock onto you. It could find you when you're thirty, or..." His voice dropped so low that she almost didn't hear him. "...when you're dead in your grave."

The thought of it made Rose shudder. "Why didn't the angel touch me?"

"They can't move if someone's looking at them. But if you blink, just blink, you can be gone. They're faster than you would believe."

"Then why couldn't I look at it?"

His eyes became unfocused for a minute, and then he shook himself back to normal. "If you stare at it for too long, it will get inside your head, and turn you into one of them."

"What about you?" she asked, her voice rising in volume. "Is that going to happen to you?"

He shook his head. "It doesn't want me. My half-time lord brain would consume it."

Rose thought about how she had been so close to being whisked away to another time without the Doctor, without her family or anyone else. "How close was it?"

The Doctor stood up straight and reached toward her shoulder, his hand hovering no more than a few centimeters away. He swallowed hard and eyed her with an intense gaze. "I saw it just in time."

And then she understood why he had been so relieved when they had entered the room. Her entire life with the Doctor had been in danger, and she had had no idea...

Rose wrapped her arms around him, frightened and relieved at the same time. The Doctor stood stock still for a moment, as if he was surprised, but then returned the embrace and held her close. Rose never wanted to leave his comforting hold, wishing that they could just stay like this forever and never have to face the monsters again.

The angels. They had come in through the TARDIS door, so what was stopping them from coming through her door?  
Rose pulled away from the Doctor. "Won't they be able to get in here?"

"No. I soniced the door closed."

"How did they get in the first time, then?"

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know exactly. Maybe it has something to do with the rift, or the contempulated model security circuits, I've been meaning to-"

"The rift? You mean they're not from this universe?"

The Doctor sniffed. "Ah, no. The angels got through a rift from the other universe after a paradox ripped a hole in time. At least, that's what it seems like."

"But how could the rift open again?"

"The rift has been healing ever since it last closed. Nothing could get through it, but the angels must have done something in Manhattan of 1934 in the other universe to create a paradox that opened a small hole in the rift. The angels came through...and here they are."

Rose couldn't help but let her thoughts wander just a little to the source of the paradox. Had the other Doctor been involved?

"I hope he's all right," she muttered, mostly to herself. The Doctor looked pointedly at her, but said nothing.

"So what do we do now?" Rose asked after a minute.

"Hm?" The Doctor looked at her, his eyebrows raised. "Sorry. Well, we have to get to the TARDIS' engine while avoiding the weeping angels."

"How many are there?"

"I have no idea."

"And how are we going to get there?"

The Doctor sprinted to the other side of her room, pressing his palms against the wall. "Every room in the TARDIS is connected through secret doors." He rubbed the wall gently, as if caressing it. "She's still in here, somewhere, and there might still be enough of her left to open the door."

Rose followed him, a bit confused as to what he was saying. "Do you mean the TARDIS is still...awake?" she asked, for lack of a better word. "She can hear us?"

"Maybe. Hopefully. Because otherwise, we're stuck here." There was a long silence, the Doctor looking at the wall thoughtfully with his brow crinkled.

"You gonna try that secret door?" asked Rose after a minute.

He turned around, sniffed, and squared his shoulders. "I'm thinking it through. The other doors aren't soniced closed, which means that the angels can get through them. Any room we go into could be filled with them."

Rose examined his expression, debating and concerned. She could tell it wasn't the only think bothering him. "Yeah, and?"

"The password to the door." He looked at her with an intense gaze. "It's the only thing no one else in any universe knows." His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. "My name."

His eyes told her everything. He was pleading with her, begging to retain this one secret. He wasn't ready for her to know yet.

But she didn't feel offended. A secret like that could only be told at a certain time, a certain place, and after much consideration. She knew that he had a good reason for keeping it from her now.

Rose nodded. "It's okay, I get it," she said gently.

He beamed at her and reached out for her hand, running his thumb over her knuckles. "One day, Rose. I will tell you one day."

"I'll hold you to it," said Rose with a smile. Goosebumps ran up her arm as the air grew colder. She supposed that since the TARDIS was offline, the cold Manhattan night was seeping through. "Be right back." She let go of his hand and walked over to her closet, where she found a soft black overcoat. She pulled it on and shivered from the cozy feeling inside.

Rose glanced over at the Doctor. He was still leaned against the wall, murmuring something too low for her to hear from this far away. She looked down to button up her coat, and by the time she looked back up, there was a dark doorway in front of the Doctor.

"You brilliant girl!" exclaimed the Doctor, caressing the TARDIS wall again.

Rose rushed over to him and peeked inside the dark room. "What room is this?"

"Mine."


	3. Chapter 3

She looked up at his placid expression, his eyes scanning the new room. "Really? It's right next to mine?"

"No." He didn't look at her, but pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned it across the entire room, lighting up small bits of it. "Like I said, every room is connected. She could have opened the doorway to any room."

"Then why yours?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. She knows where we want to go, so she must have some reason for bringing us here." He tilted his chin up and gave a threatening look to the ceiling. "I hope." Without another word, the Doctor darted into the room. Rose heard the sonic screwdriver go off, and then the Doctor appeared in the doorway.

"It's safe. No weeping angels." He offered her his hand and she took it, stepping through the doorway. She looked back through, her room still there.

Rose paused. "So you could get through there any time you want?"

The Doctor scratched the back of his head, avoiding her gaze. "Well..."

"Doctor!"

"It was only once...twice... Just checking on you while you were sleeping." He gave her the most disarming smile.

It was so hard to remember her point when he looked at her like that. "Making sure the bedbugs don't bite me?" she joked.

He scoffed at her. "Don't be ridiculous. The TARDIS doesn't have bedbugs."

"Then what?" She expected him to either ignore her or continue joking, but instead his expression turned serious.

"The TARDIS could tell you were having nightmares," he said simply. "I wanted to take them away."

"You can take away nightmares?"

"Well, not exactly. I can take them and put them in my mind, where I can push them away."

A picture came into her mind of the Doctor sitting on the edge of her bed, leaning over her and pressing her temples with his fingertips as she slept. He closed his eyes, shuddered, and then sighed. He stood up then, shoving his hands into his pockets and gazing at her. Right as he looked like he was about to walk away, he turned back, leaned over, and kissed her forehead.

Rose then thought about the recent nightmares she had had; ones about her family being worried, ones where her Doctor left her all alone... They would all seem so silly to him.

"I dream about the same things," he said, as if reading her thoughts. "Not exactly, but I have nightmares about my family. And you..." He paused, and then cleared his throat and nodded. "Anyway, we need to find out what we're here for." As if it was an afterthought, the Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at the doorway to her room and pressed the button to activate it. The wall slid downwards as the screwdriver buzzed, finally concealing the passageway altogether.

Wondering in the back of her mind what the Doctor dreamed about her, Rose continued her examination of the new room. Against the far wall sat a large desk with a rolling chair in front of it. She tugged the Doctor that way, realizing that the desk was covered with ink strewn papers. A shelf extended above the desk, but it only contained six random objects, all spaced out neatly. Rose picked up the object that was front and center on the shelf; a red rose, its petals soft and silky to the touch. Behind it, and all the way to the left, laid a thick book. Next to that, a chunk of metal, and adjacent to that was a thick, black cube, just small enough to fit in someone's palm. The fifth thing was an old, faded recipe card for a cheese souffle, and last was an unraveled black bowtie, curled up into a heap.

"What are these?" asked Rose, running her fingertips over the book's bent cover.

The Doctor reached out from behind her and took the rose in his hand, stroking it fondly. "They remind me of the people I traveled with. There are a lot more, of course, but since I'm a copy of the tenth regeneration of myself, these are the people that I remember the most. Not to say that the others aren't important, by any means."

He came to stand beside her and released her hand, a deep sadness in his eyes. One corner of his mouth twitched upwards into a lopsided smile as he gingerly set down the rose and picked up the book, which Rose realized was a compilation of some of Shakespeare's finest works.

"Martha. Good old William still wrote in this universe." He put it back where it was and picked up the piece of metal. Swallowing hard, he turned it over in his hand. A few unlit lights dotted it here and there, and there was one big hole on one end of it, as if it was supposed to plug into something. For some reason, it looked very familiar...

"Dimension stabilizer," the Doctor said in a strained voice. "One of Donna's modifications for growing a TARDIS."

Rose vaguely remembered the Doctor constructing his TARDIS growth chamber. He had shown her so many things that she hadn't understood but that he had been so proud of; this must have been one of them.

The Doctor put the metal back quickly and picked up the cube, his eyebrows furrowing together. "I'm not really sure about this one." He swept his hands over the desk below, finally snatching a paper out of the middle of the mess. As he held it up, Rose saw that a young woman's face, not much older than herself probably, had been drawn in dark ink.

The Doctor looked at it with a sad smile, holding it up with both hands. "Amelia Pond," he said in a whisper. After a few seconds he shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut, pressing one of his palms on the side of his head. He clenched his teeth and took in a sharp breath, as if he was in pain.


	4. Chapter 4

"Doctor?" Rose pressed one palm against his chest, and squeezed his shoulder with the other hand.

"No, don't," he muttered breathlessly, now holding his head in both of his hands and letting the paper drift to the floor. "You can't." A tear escaped through his eyelids, and then another. His voice rose and octave, strangled and pleading. "Come along, Pond. Please." He fell to his knees, letting out a long cry of pain.

"Doctor!" Rose dropped beside him and shook him by the shoulders. "What's wrong? What do you need me to do?"

His eyes finally opened, wide, fearful, and glassy. More tears ran down his face as he gulped in deep, ragged breaths. He looked around him and then looked into her eyes, his own focusing in and out. "Rose," he breathed in relief. He reached out to grip her shoulders and then pull her into a hug.

Though surprised by the sudden action, Rose wrapped her arms around him in return, rubbing his back as he continued to breathe with shaky breaths. He held her there for longer than normal, as if he didn't want to let go of her.

"What happened?" she asked, still in his arms.

As if just realizing that they had been in the same position for over a minute, the Doctor released her and looked at her with a mournful gaze. "I'm still part of the real Doctor," he said in a low voice, "and he's part of me. Sometimes when we experience extreme emotions, it rips a hole in the rift just enough to connect us again. At least, I'm assuming it's two sided. Now that wouldn't be fair."

"You saw through his eyes?" asked Rose, his morose expression giving her a depressed feeling inside.

He nodded. "It hurts. Wasn't a good time either. Oh, the universes are cruel." He swallowed again and took a deep breath. "I suppose it's helpful sometimes, though. That's how I learned that you shouldn't look at a weeping angel for too long." His eyebrows furrowed together as he stood up. "Blimey, we've been dawdling."

Rose grabbed his outstretched hand and was pulled back up onto her feet. He seemed like he had recovered from the traumatic episode he had just had, but there was still a trace of deep sadness in his eyes. Rose couldn't help but wonder if the other Doctor was going through some terrible loss...again. Couldn't the universe be kind to him, just once?

"Don't do it." The Doctor's words broke through her reverie.

"What?"

"Think about it. " He grimaced, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. "It doesn't do any good." His gaze drilling into her, he squeezed her hand. "Come on. We have to get to the engine."

The Doctor released her hand and pressed his hands against the wall like last time. Rose stepped away and flopped down onto his bed, sleepiness beginning to weigh on her. She was only running on a few hours of sleep, and even with adrenaline pumping through her body, she could still drift off right here...

"Rose."

She shook herself awake. Had she actually fallen asleep? Her head swam as she tried to focus on the Doctor's face leaning over her.

He looked at her apologetically. "We have to keep moving. The TARDIS isn't responding, so they must be gaining more control over her. We're going to have to walk through the hallways."

Rose's next breath caught in her throat. "But..."

The Doctor's expression hardened. "I know. The angels. Not to worry, though." He flipped a dark object into the air and caught it back in his hand. "I was wondering where this got to. Should help a bit."

Though it took a minute to focus, Rose finally realized that it was a torch. "So we'll be all right so long as we can see them, yeah?"

He nodded, grabbed her by the shoulders, and pulled her onto her feet. With a small smile he grasped her hand. "I'll look ahead, you look behind. The floor should light up the hallways enough to see, at least for now." He shoved the torch into his pocket and edged toward the door, sighing before he pulled out his sonic screwdriver. "Remember, don't let go of me, and never stare into an angel's eyes." He soniced the door, and it slid open.

Rose stifled a scream as the stone statue of an angel, its hands covering its face, was framed by the doorway. Her breathing sped up, and she gripped the Doctor's hand.

"It's all right. It can't move while we're looking at it. Are you looking?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Don't stop." His jaw tightened, and he looked back at her, pressing her hand. "You're going to have to trust me."

Rose nodded, still staring at the angel. Of course she trusted him.

"Back up."

She followed his pull backwards, bringing them further and further away from the angel and finally to the far wall. Rose tried to steady her breathing, having to remind herself that they were safe for now.  
"Now, when I count to three, I want you to blink."

Rose tightened her hold on his hand. "But you said that they could move even if you blink."

"I know. I won't let it touch you."

"But-"

"One. Two..."

Rose took a deep breath.

"Three."

She blinked. The angel was now inside the room, just a meter or two away from them. Its expression was angry with a wide open mouth, revealing sharp teeth. One outstretched arm reached toward her, frozen in place. She couldn't tear her gaze away from its eyes, as much as the Doctor's warning sounded in her head.

"Doctor..."

"I'm looking at it." He tugged her toward the door to the hallway, always turning so that he was facing the angel. They backed out of the room and the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver on the door, making it slide back into place.

Rose sighed and relaxed her body, which she just realized had been all tensed up. She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes. "I looked at it, Doctor."

"How long?" he asked, immediately alert. He looked into her eyes with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Just a few seconds. It was like I couldn't stop..."

He ran his sonic screwdriver over her. "You'll be fine." He then swiveled his head from side to side. "Keep looking back. If you see one, tell me, and don't look at it longer than you need to." His eyes gave her a serious warning look, and then he turned forward and began leading her down the hallway.


	5. Chapter 5

It was silent for a long time. The only sound was the echo of the Doctor's trainers clopping gently on the hard floor. He barely allowed himself to blink, almost expecting a weeping angel to appear in front of him at any second.

"Doctor?" Rose said in a quiet voice after they had turned down several hallways.

The Doctor paused at an intersection of hallways. Which way was it again? He raised his eyebrows in question as a response to Rose like he normally would, but as he remembered she couldn't see him, he responded verbally. "Yeah?"

"Why do you want me to hold onto you?"

_To keep me sane, _was his immediate thought as he turned to the right. "There's always a chance that if an angel touches one of us, it would send the other one back too, if we're connected."

"Don't they have a choice?"

"Sometimes. Other times it's fixed; they only have enough energy to send people back to one time."

"After you left, did you ever...get involved with anyone else?"

The Doctor was caught off guard at the sudden subject change. "Ah, well..." His mind ran through those years in a blur, recalling failed dates and merely pretty faces. "Not really. I tried, but nothing ever worked out. You can't be replaced."

He swallowed, hoping he had said the right thing. "You?"

"Me, too." She squeezed his hand. "I'm glad I have you."

"Better with two," he agreed.

Rose pulled back on his hand. He halted, but didn't turn around. "Yeah?"

"Turn around," she said, her tone calm and even.

"Rose, I can't."

"Please."

The Doctor huffed. How could he resist that plea? He turned around to find her facing him. He glanced over her shoulder, but the coast was clear; no angels.

"What is it?" he asked a little curtly, slightly annoyed that she would put them in danger just to look at him as well as take his focus off of the way to the engine room.

Rose looked down. "Just in case...I mean, if..." She looked up at him, seeming to have some sort of sudden resolve, and then bounced up on her toes and kissed him, pushing him back against the wall. She slipped one arm around his neck, and, easing out of his grasp, gripped his lapel with the other hand.

The Doctor was completely taken aback, and didn't approve in the slightest. There could be a weeping angel right behind her, and they would never know. He, however, kept his eyes open and looked out of his peripherals, hoping that he would be able to catch one if it came by. He raised his arms to push her away, but instead found himself wrapping them around her and leaning into the kiss. He closed his eyes, though the back of his mind still screamed at him to stop.

_The weeping angels, _his head repeated over and over. Yet, it didn't seem as important, though he had no idea why.

Suddenly, the Doctor became alert again. It seemed to happen to Rose too at the same moment, because they both pushed the other away at the same time. They both breathed raggedly as Rose looked up at him in confusion.


	6. Chapter 6

The Doctor cleared his throat and straightened his tie, feeling just as baffled as she looked. "Sorry, I don't know why..."

"I'm not sure what..."

They both spoke at the same time, and then trailed off. The Doctor scratched the back of his head, still watching for weeping angels. It was a miracle that none had been around in the past minute or two. Still, they shouldn't stay around for much longer.

"Allons-y," said the Doctor, taking Rose's hand in his again and continuing on his way.

Now the path to the engine was in the back of his mind. What had caused both of them to act so strangely? They had both eaten the food at the restaurant, but the fact that the effects had worn off at the same time ruled that out. Whatever it was, there had to be something living controlling it, flipping the switch on and off. And then the only two living things in here besides him and Rose were the angels and maybe the TARDIS. And the only thing that could establish a telepathic link...

"The TARDIS..." he murmured. It must still be alive, watching them, following them. But how in the universe could it get inside their heads? And why?

"What?" asked Rose.

"She's still here, somewhere. Don't know how, but she's the only one who could get inside our heads."

"So she..."

"Yep."

"But why..."

"I don't know." The Doctor huffed and scratched the back of his head. "I hope she wasn't just trying to be funny at a time like this," he said, looking up and emphasizing his words since she was most likely listening.

"Doctor." Rose tugged on his hand and stopped. "Angels."

He spun on his toes to see three angels, maybe around twenty meters away, only just able to be seen. "Don't worry. Keep going. The door should be at the end of this hallway."

Rose proceeded at a quick march, pulling him along behind. After a minute, she stopped. "Sonic."

Without taking his eyes off of the angels, the Doctor reached for his sonic screwdriver and reached his arm back behind him. It was gone from his hands and then its buzz sounded. A door slid open.

"D-Doctor."

He whirled around to see the blank, boundless, white room with a gleaming, blue orb in the center of it. All around were weeping angels, at least ten of them, all looking toward them. The sonic sounded behind him, and Rose slid the screwdriver back into his jacket pocket.

"Well..."

"Plan, Doctor?"

"Haven't got one yet, but I'm getting there."

"I thought you would've worked it out on the way here..." she muttered.

"I'm sorry," he said sardonically, "I got a bit distracted when you decided to snog me."

"You said yourself it wasn't me! Enough with your sass," she added, elbowing him in the ribs.

The door behind them slid open. They both turned around at the same time, before the Doctor could realize it, to face the three weeping angels. He tried to turn back around, but something smooth and cold encircled his wrist. He held his breath, but nothing happened. The scene around him remained unchanged.

"I thought you said they couldn't get in after you soniced it?"

"Yeah, well, I might have lied a little. I wasn't sure if they had enough control over the TARDIS yet to open the doors." Breaking his hold with Rose, the Doctor turned around to face the weeping angel that held him. All the others were gathered around at various distances, all with their eyes on him.


	7. Chapter 7

"What's this for, then?" he murmured, pulling out his sonic screwdriver with his free hand and running it over the angel in front of him. "You've got the ability, but why aren't you sending me back?" he asked himself as he read the scan.

_They want you._

The playful female voice from inside the Doctor's head startled him, though somehow he knew exactly who it was. _How can you do that? _he exclaimed with his thoughts. _It's impossible!_

A chuckle resounded through his mind. _I'm a TARDIS, you silly boy. What part about me _isn't _impossible?_

_ But you've never- I mean, the other TARDIS could never talk to me. _

_ Other TARDIS? _There was a pause, and the Doctor saw several images of his old TARDIS flash by in his mind's eye. _Oh, yes, that ancient girl. Well, that's a long story. When you- _"What's going on, Doctor?"

Rose's voice penetrated through his thoughts. The Doctor shook his head and remembered the situation he was in. "One of the angels has me, but it's not sending me back. Just keep looking at those."

_They don't want her, _the TARDIS stated. _They only want you._

_ For what?_

_ Conversion. _

The Doctor let the word sink in. If he was one of them, he could operate the TARDIS and take them throughout time and space, feeding off the temporal energy. _But how? With my half time lord mind, it would be impossible._

_ You've made yourself human before, and it would be much easier since you're not fully time lord. _

_ How do they know that?_

_ They took over my mainframe, which contains most of your memories. Right now I'm only existing as something like a spirit. _

_ And how do you know what they're thinking?  
Telepathic properties, remember? When they took over my mainframe, I also got access to their minds. _

_ I really hope you're right. _The Doctor took a deep breath and looked at each weeping angel in turn. Yes, there were exactly ten. Then three behind him, and another trapped in his room. And possibly more scattered around the TARDIS. It could work, just maybe... "So, you want me to become like you? Well, you can't do that without the equipment in the control room. So you can let me go, and Rose and I will just head on over there..."

_They don't need her. They can get rid of her._

"Don't need Rose?" he said out loud, his temper ignited just a little bit. "Well, I'll tell you what. I need her, and you don't get me unless I can have her. What do you say to that?"

There was a short pause before the TARDIS spoke to him. _They have agreed not to touch her, but I sense trickery in their minds. They also wonder how you know what they're saying._

_ Well, they're going to keep wondering. _"Good, glad that's all settled. Now, how do you expect to get to the control room?"

_They will take you and Rose there._

"I don't trust you that much. Look, it's not like we could run anywhere with you lot breathing down our backs." He chuckled. "Breathing." He looked back at Rose and raised his eyebrows. "Get it? They can't breathe."

"And when our existence is in danger, all he can do is make a cheap shot at the statues," she sighed.

"You have control of the TARDIS anyway. If we ran, you could lock any door, make any hallway turn to the control room. In fact, you could do that right now and save us the trouble of stretching our legs any more."

_They will let you and Rose go on your own. What's your plan, Doctor?_

The Doctor chuckled silently _Oh, they must be truly desperate. You'll see. _"We'll be on our way then." He turned around, and his hand was freed. He grabbed Rose's hand as he walked out the door, pulling her along with him.

"How did you know what they were thinking?" asked Rose in a whisper as they walked at a brisk pace down the hallway.

"TARDIS helped me a bit," he said, matching her volume, "though I did take a course in mind reading once."

Her mouth twitched up into a half smile, and she glanced over her shoulder. "Really? Did you pass?"

"With flying colors. The professor fancied me." The Doctor chuckled quietly, the memory replaying in his mind.

"That's cheating. Got that plan yet?" Rose added under her breath.

The Doctor looked behind him to see the weeping angels just a few steps behind. "I think so." He squeezed her hand. "Bad wolf."


	8. Chapter 8

_Bad wolf?_

The familiar words ran through Rose's head. She hadn't heard them in a long time. What could the Doctor mean? How could that be part of his plan?

The control room...he hadn't fought about going there. The only thing that the TARDIS could have to do with bad wolf was...

_The time vortex._

It was powerful. Powerful enough to kill the Doctor. If they unleashed it on the angels...

"It took a giant truck to open it last time," she whispered, pressing his hand.

A wide grin spread across his face. "You just didn't know how to open it."

The Doctor led her through a door and into the control room. Rose noted that the trip had been much shorter than it had been before with just her and the Doctor. She still had no idea how the TARDIS could change its layout whenever it wanted.

The Doctor pulled out his torch and shone it ahead of them. Once they reached the controls, he flashed it behind. The weeping angels, thirteen of them, were all crowded just inside the door.

"Don't take your eyes off of them unless I tell you to," he murmured, handing her the torch. "Don't look into their eyes."

Rose nodded, averting her gaze to their foreheads. Sleep weighed down on her, and she wanted to just close her eyes. Just even for a second. But she couldn't. She knew she couldn't.

"Yes, I know," the Doctor snapped in a low voice, as if he was talking to someone like he had been before.

"Are the angels saying something?"

"No, sorry, just...thinking."

Though his answer sounded suspicious, she decided to let it pass it for now. A grinding noise sounded from behind her.

"Come behind me and look away now," he said quietly.

Rose backed up and then let her eyelids fall in one, heavy blink.

The angels were now gathered around the Doctor, staring down at whatever he was toying with under the console. The vortex. It had to be.

"Here we are!" the Doctor said cheerily. He shoved away a metal panel, and a golden light came pouring out of it. The Doctor cast her a warning look. They couldn't have a repeat of what had happened last time.

Instead, Rose watched the angels. Tendrils drifting from the light encircled them, and in seconds they were gone, just like that. One by one. And they couldn't run away.

Though the Doctor watched with an unwavering stern expression, a pang went through Rose as she realized he had never given them a choice. He had always given them a choice, even at the cost of his own life...

As soon as every last one had disintegrated, the Doctor slid the panel back in place, stood up, and wiped his hands together, his gaze still on the time vortex. He sighed and then smiled, looking up at her.

Rose couldn't smile back. Her thoughts still troubled her. It was in moments like these when she wished he was like the other Doctor, just that part of him...

"Rose." He must have caught onto her expression. He closed the distance between them and looked into her eyes with a steady, soft gaze.

"What about the angel that we trapped in your room?" she asked, pretending like that's what had been troubling her.

"I'll just open the time vortex again. It shouldn't be hard to lead it here." He frowned, obviously seeing right through her. This Doctor was much better at reading her emotions; either that, or he just decided to acknowledge them more often.

"Just want to go home," Rose sighed, letting her expression brighten a little. "I'm exhausted."

He seemed to accept that, smiling again and nodding. "Home it is, then."

As if on cue, the lights in the TARDIS flashed to life again, forcing Rose to blink several times. She turned off the torch and handed it to the Doctor before he bounded off to the controls.

Rose cringed. She should have told him. Silence was what separated them in the first place...

She would tell him. She had to. He had been right; he wasn't quite the Doctor yet, but at least he was hers.


End file.
